2
10
37
-
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372f9fec37c6ef54a9c1704378d1a6b4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">The New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NYSAOWS) was one of the most active anti-suffrage groups in the state of New York. There were several auxiliaries of the group throughout New York. NYSAOWS would receive requests for information, advice or assistance from women in other states, including Virginia, where a group of Richmond women established the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912. Other anti-suffrage groups around the country would use material published by NYSAOWS to rally women in their states around the ideals of the anti-suffrage movement. </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"> Formed in April 1895, the New York association consisted of prominent women who opposed women's right to vote. They gave speeches, handed out materials, distributed pamphlets, and also published a journal. NYSAOWS members believed that women participating in politics would be "disruptive of everything pertaining to home life." They considered that women's roles as mothers and caregivers meant they did not have to do "further service" as citizens. The members also believed that a majority of people were on their side and all they had to do was advocate for women to “recognize the vital need for a division of the world's work between men and women.” In 1896, NYSAOWS believed that only 10% of women actually wanted the vote. NYSAOWS also used tactics such as associating women's suffrage with "support for socialist causes.” Although not based in Virginia, materials published by this organization were widely circulated throughout the commonwealth. </span></p>
Standards
VS.1, VS.9. USII.1, USII.9, VUS.1, VUS.8
Suggested Questions
<p><b>Preview Activity</b></p>
<p>Look at It: <span style="font-weight:400;">Look at the title. What does it tell you about the group who wrote the broadside? List three ideas you have about the women who may be the topic(s) of this broadside.</span></p>
<p><b>Post Activities</b></p>
<p>Analyze<span style="font-weight:400;">: Look at the title. What does it tell you about the group who wrote the broadside? Why do you think this title was chosen? How is the title reflected in the arguments expressed in the broadside?</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><strong><br /></strong>Up for Debate<strong>:</strong><span style="font-weight:400;"> In small groups, prepare a brief statement in which you take a side and present why your group is in favor of or is opposed to the suffrage movement.</span></p>
<p>Social Media Spin:<span style="font-weight:400;"> Using hashtags and memes, convert the messages of this broadside into short, social media-style messages that may have been used had the technology existed at the time.</span></p>
<p>Artistic Exploration:<span style="font-weight:400;"> Create a placard that an anti-suffragist may have carried, sharing the views from the "Economical Woman."</span></p>
Content Warning
Accounts for problematic historic language and images.
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
“An Economical Woman” Issued by The New York State Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage, 1909
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
Women's History
-
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6de16960b377f321d67d3e831cc2713e
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">"Agitate – Educate – Legislate” was the slogan of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, which advocated the prohibition of alcohol. Established in 1874 in Ohio, the union became a national movement and Virginia women established a state chapter in 1883. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) placed a special emphasis on encouraging women and children to support prohibition. The WCTU saw alcohol abuse as especially harmful in the home, where its effects could lead to impoverishment and endanger the lives of children or women. At the time, women did not have many legal rights and their families were often at the mercy of their husbands or fathers. The stated goal of the WCTU was “protection of the home,” which appealed to many women. The WCTU first followed the path of other temperance societies, encouraging adults and children to sign pledges of “Capital T total" (or “teetotal”) abstention from consuming alcohol. Although the pledge campaigns were successful, the WCTU feared that voluntary pledges were not sufficient and members started to push for government intervention in the form of prohibition legislation. </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">In 1879, Frances Willard became president of the WCTU and expanded its scope, moving from moral persuasion to political action. Willard's personal motto was "Do Everything," which encouraged many women to become active in a variety of social issues that they believed could be solved with a woman’s perspective. By 1896, 25 of the 39 departments of the WCTU addressed non-alcohol-related issues, including women's voting rights, shelters for abused women and children, an eight-hour work day, equal pay for equal work, prison reform, promotion of nutrition and the Pure Food and Drug Act, and world peace. In order to achieve these goals, the WCTU was one of the first organizations to actively lobby Congress to promote its progressive agenda. In 1901, the WCTU was instrumental in securing passage of a law requiring temperance instruction in all public schools. The 18th Amendment outlawing the manufacture and sale of alcohol was ratified in 1919 and repealed in 1933.</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Outreach to children, the next generation, was central to the WCTU mission. In the 1890s, the WCTU started the Loyal Temperance Legion (LTL), an international club for boys and girls who pledged total abstinence from alcohol. Monthly meetings included such activities as plays, picnics, parades, and singing temperance songs. The first slogan of the Loyal Temperance League was “Tremble, King Alcohol, We Shall Grow Up!” In 1887, the WCTU began publishing an illustrated magazine, <em>The Young</em> <em>Crusader</em>, and it continued after Prohibition was repealed. In a 1934 story entitled “The Kittens Bring the Light,” Joan and Jimmy are crying because “Daddy went out with some of his friends to celebrate REPEAL.” The LTL mascot, Humpy the Camel, wrote a folksy monthly editorial encouraging children to stay focused on temperance even though alcohol had been legalized again. The featured story, “Good Times and Bob,” follows three boys on their way to school as they discuss how the end of Prohibition has impacted their families. </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span></p>
<span style="font-weight:400;">The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union is still active today, and after 140 years it remains one of the oldest continuously operating women’s organizations in the world. Although the Loyal Temperance Legion is long gone, the WCTU continues its mission of educating children about alcohol and drug use through its website “Drug-Free Kids.”</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><i><span style="font-weight:400;">Citation: “The Young Crusader.” National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Evanston, Illinois. Call No. HV5287.N37 Y6</span></i><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span>
Standards
VS.9, USII.4, USII.6, CE.6, CE.10, WHII.8, VUS.8, VUS.10, GOVT.7, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<p><b>Preview Activities</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Take a Look: Look at the cover art and title of the magazine. What might be the purpose of the image? Who might be The Young Crusader? What does the combined image and title suggest the purpose of the magazine might be? </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Scan It: Read the titles of the articles. Guess what the articles may be about without reading the actual article? Look at the image at the bottom of the page, what clues does it give you about the purpose of the magazine?</span></p>
<p><b>Post Activities </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Analyze: Why would the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union target children? Do you think it was effective? Why or why not?</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Current Connections: How does "Good Times and Bob" from the Woman's Christian Temperance Union compare to the anti-drug and -alcohol programs in schools and society today? What is different? What is similar?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Taking a Side: Imagine that you represent the local chapter of the WCTU. How would you influence and promote the concept of alcohol abstinence? Create your own artwork and write a paragraph supporting your positon. </span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Young Crusader, Woman’s Christian Temperance Magazine for Children, 1934
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1934
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
Women's History
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
At the turn of the twentieth century, the call for the prohibition of alcohol had become a national issue, advocated by many politicians and pushed by several strong organizations. The American Temperance Society, started in 1826, acted as a support group for members who took a pledge to abstain from alcohol. The Prohibition Party, founded in 1869, is the oldest existing third party in the United States, garnering 5,617 votes in the 2016 presidential election. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, started in 1874, tended to focus on the moral implications of drinking and its effect on the family. Formed in Ohio in 1893, the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) used statistics, not morals, to fight the war on alcohol and Virginians organized a state league in 1901.<br /><br />The Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States was ratified in January 1919. Thirty-two states, including Virginia, had already voted to go dry. The amendment was set to go into effect on January 17, 1920. Flush with its victory, the Anti-Saloon League tried to assuage any lingering doubts with the publication of “The Verdict” in April 1919. To provide the “most reliable and representative sources,” a committee of league members asked the governors of the dry states about the success or failure of prohibition. Some of the reports provided statistics of the effects of prohibition, while others offered merely platitudes, but the governors overwhelmingly endorsed the success of prohibition in their states. The Anti-Saloon League clearly had high hopes for national Prohibition. Driven by this single mission, the Anti-Saloon League members were willing to ally with any group, including Democrats, Republicans, the Ku Klux Klan, the NAACP, the International Workers of the World, as well as many leading industrialists, including Henry Ford, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. <br /><br />The consistent pressure of the Anti-Saloon League forced public figures and organizations to take a stand: wet or dry? <br /><br /><em>Citation: The Verdict. April-May 1919. Anti-Saloon League of Virginia Papers, 1919, Acc. 45036, Library of Virginia. </em>
Standards
VS.8, VS.9, USII.4, USII.6, CE.6, CE.10, WHII.8, VUS.8, VUS.10, GOVT.7, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<strong>Preview Activity</strong> <br /><br />Scan it: Scan the document. Why do you think the document is entitled “The Verdict”? <br /><br /><strong>Post Activities</strong> <br /><br />Analyze: According to the information in the document, was prohibition working in these states? Why or why not? Explain your answer, citing at least three specific examples. <br /><br />STEM STAT: Use the information from New Hampshire (No. 15) and Texas (No. 24) to determine the percentage decline in arrests for drunkenness. How could this result be used to argue for or against prohibition?
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Verdict, Anti-Saloon League Flyer, April-May 1919
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1919
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
At the turn of the twentieth century, the call for Prohibition had become a national issue, espoused by many politicians and pushed by several strong organizations. The American Temperance Society, started in 1826, acted as a support group for members who took a pledge to abstain from alcohol. The Prohibition Party, founded in 1869, is the oldest existing third party in the United States, garnering 5,617 votes in the 2016 presidential election. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, started in 1874, tended to focus on the moral implications of drinking and its effect on the family. Formed in Ohio in 1893, the Anti-Saloon League used statistics, not morals, to fight the war on alcohol. Every year, the Anti-Saloon League published a yearbook, an “encyclopedia of facts and figures dealing with the liquor traffic and the temperance reform.” Armed with these facts, dedicated Prohibitionists could try to convince others they considered to be reluctant or unenlightened which could include family members, those arguing against prohibition in formal debates, and in letters to politicians and newspapers who were not in favor of prohibition. <br /><br />The 1930 <em>Anti-Saloon League Yearbook</em> contained a poll of high school seniors and their attitudes about alcohol. Commissioned in April of 1929 by the Department of Moral Welfare of the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, the study was surprisingly objective. The book explained the methodology of the poll in some detail: letters were sent out to schools in eighteen states “from every type of community from urban centers like New York to small towns in the south and mid-west.” Each school received twenty questionnaires that were to be given out at random to high school seniors. No names were to be signed to the questionnaire. The authors attempted to keep the survey unbiased, stating that “Every attempt was made to eliminate all tinge of the investigator and any so-called moralistic influence in carrying out the study.” The results were used to bolster the argument in favor of prohibition. <br /><br />Overall, 79 percent of students surveyed said they did not drink at all. Moreover, 70 percent thought that Prohibition laws had benefitted the nation, with attached notes to their responses registering “several very violent opinions on both sides of this question.” Asked if moderate drinking would injure their prospects, 92 percent thought that drinking would be detrimental to athletics, while 74 percent believed that alcohol would diminish their chance of success in business. An overwhelming 96 percent of the seniors interviewed did not think it was necessary to drink to be popular. Ironically, when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the 17-year-old seniors who participated in this survey were just turning 21, so they could legally drink alcohol. <br /><br /><em>Citation: Ernest Cherrington, ed., The Anti-Saloon League Yearbook 1930 (Westerville, Ohio: The American Issue Press, 1930).</em>
Standards
VS.8, VS.9, USII.4, USII.6, CE.6, CE.10, WHII.8, VUS.8, VUS.10, GOVT.7, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<strong>Preview Activity</strong> <br /><br />Take a Look: Look at the document, what do you notice about it? Who is responsible for creating the document? What do you think is the purpose of the document? <br /><br /><strong>Post Activities</strong> <br /><br />Current Connections: Do you think the results of this survey would be similar if it were given today? In what categories would you expect the greatest changes? Check out some recent polls from the Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm <br /><br />STEM STAT: How many males and females participated in this survey? What is the best way to figure out a percentage for these questions? What percentage of boys drank alcohol? What percentage of girls drank? What might account for this gender gap?
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
High School Attitudes Towards Prohibition, 1930
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p>What is known as the Progressive Movement in the United States lasted from the late 19th century until the 1940s. While many positive social reforms occurred, there were also laws enacted in which people who were thought to be “inferior” in some way were subjected to medical tests and treatments. If an individual was found to be "unfit" they were sometimes institutionalized or forcibly sterilized so that certain traits that were believed to be hereditary would not be passed on to future generations. These traits included insanity, criminal tendencies, shiftlessness, promiscuity, and “feeble-mindedness." Virginia and other states added criteria to marriage applications requiring that applicants swear that they were not “a habitual criminal, idiot, imbecile, hereditary epileptic, or insane.” Virginia started its sterilization program in 1916, and it was codified into law in 1924 with the Virginia Sterilization Act. By 1940, twenty-eight states had authorized compulsory sterilization of inmates in mental institutions. The path to these laws was paved in 1927 when the United States Supreme Court upheld a state’s right to sterilize a person deemed unfit to have children in <em>Buck v. Bell</em>.</p>
<p>Born in Charlottesville, Carrie E. Buck (1906–1983) was raised by foster parents after her biological mother was diagnosed as being of low intelligence and committed to the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded. Pregnant at age 18, Carrie Buck stated that she had been raped by her foster parents' nephew, but her foster parents claimed that her promiscuous behavior was the reason and was proof that she should also be committed to the Colony. <br /><br />The colony's superintendent believed in the necessity of sterilization and selected Carrie Buck, who had been diagnosed as "feebleminded," or of less than average intelligence, to be the subject of a test case to ensure that Virginia's 1924 law was constitutional. This document is an excerpt from the testimony of Dr. Albert S. Priddy, superintendent until his death in 1925, after which he was replaced by Dr. John H. Bell. Priddy’s testimony comes from a brief prepared for the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which confirmed that the sterilization law was constitutional in 1927. Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Carrie Buck was sterilized a few months later.</p>
<p>During the Nuremberg trials after World War II, several Nazis on trial based their defense of Germany's sterilization laws on the prevalence of such laws in the United States and the Supreme Court decision in <em>Buck v. Bell</em>. More than 60,000 Americans, including 8,300 Virginians, were sterilized by the time these laws were repealed in the 1970s. In 2002 the governor issued a formal apology to those Virginians who had been involuntarily sterilized.<br /><br /><em>Citation: Buck v. Bell, Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Brief for Appellee, September Term 1925, Records of Western State Hospital, 1825-2000, Box 88, Folder 27, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.</em><br /><br />For more information on Carrie Buck, read her Dictionary of Virginia Biography <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/buck-carrie-1906-1983/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">entry</a>.</p>
Standards
VS.9, USII.4, CE.10, VUS.8, VUS.10, GOVT.7, GOVT 8, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<strong>Preview Activity</strong><br /><br />Scan It: Scan the document. What do you notice about the purpose of document from the cover page? Do any words or phrases stand out to you? Why did they stand out? <br /><strong>Post Activities<br /></strong><br />Food For Thought: Think about how far society has progressed in the treatment of those who may need special services for a variety of health or mental health reasons. Is there anything that may be done better to assist people in need? Explain. <br /><br />Be the Journalist: You are a 21st century journalist writing a story about the <em>Buck v. Bell</em> case and how it impacts society today. Who would you interview? What are three questions you might ask to get the information you seek?
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Buck v. Bell, Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Brief for Appellee, September 1925
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p>In 1924, Virginia's General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Act, which was designed to stop the “intermixture” of white and Black people. The act banned interracial marriage by requiring marriage applicants to identify their race as "white," "colored," or "mixed." The law defined a white person as one “with no trace of the blood of another race.” The law did stipulate that "persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian" would be considered white, an accommodation for elite white Virginians who proudly claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas. <br /><br />As Virginia's first state registrar of vital statistics, Dr. Walter Plecker was the driving force behind the law and oversaw its enforcement. After the law was enacted, Plecker sent this Virginia Health Bulletin to all the local governments in the state. It included specific instructions for clerks who issued marriage licenses, a copy of the law itself, as well as Plecker’s views on “intermixture,” and the harm to society caused “by such abhorrent deeds.”<br /><br />Plecker’s focus on the separation of races was bolstered by the eugenics movement, a part of which adhered to white racial superiority over non-whites and depended on white genetic purity. He declared that “intermarriage of the white race with mixed stock must be made impossible.” He meticulously checked each birth certificate and marriage license in the state and wrote frequent letters to county clerks who failed to uphold the law to his standards. He even wrote to midwives, as in the case in this letter in which he warned a woman against making "false statements" about the racial identity of newborn infants. Additionally, Plecker expressed his belief that there existed people who were passing as white, so they could attend white schools or marry white people. Many of his letters focused on a group of families in Amherst and Rockbridge Counties, who he accused of trying to circumnavigate the law. <br /><br />The Racial Integrity Act was not overturned until 1967 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/loving-v-virginia-1967/"><em>Loving</em> v. <em>Virginia</em></a> that prohibiting interracial marriage was unconstitutional. The Virginia General Assembly repealed the Racial Integrity Act along with other racially discriminatory laws in 2020.<em><br /><br /></em><em>Citation: Virginia Health Bulletin, 16 (March 1924): 1-4; and W. A. Plecker to Mary Sorrels, Aug. 15, 1925, Rockbridge County Clerk’s Correspondence [Walter Plecker to A.T. Shields], 1912-1943, Library of Virginia.<br /></em><br />For more information, see the article on <em>“Racial Integrity Laws</em> (1924-1930),” at <em><a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/racial-integrity-laws-1924-1930/" target="_blank" title="This non-LVA link opens in a new window." rel="noreferrer noopener">Encyclopedia Virginia</a>.</em><br /><br /><br /></p>
Standards
USII.4, CE.10, VUS.8, VUS.10, VUS.14, GOVT.7, GOVT.8, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<p><strong>Preview Activity</strong></p>
<p>Scan It: Scan one page of the document. Identify three or four phrases or sentences that stand out. What do you think was the purpose of the act? What reaction do you think it got from the general public?</p>
<p><strong>Post Activity</strong></p>
<p>Be the Journalist: You are a journalist preparing to write a story about Dr. Walter Plecker and the lasting impact of the Racial Integrity Act on modern Virginians. How would you prepare to write your article? Who would you interview? What are three questions you would ask?</p>
<p>Current Connections: What similarities and/or differences do you see between the struggle for interracial marriage and the fight for LGBTQIA+ marriage equality?</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Virginia Health Bulletin: The New Virginia Law To Preserve Racial Integrity, March 1924
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
African American History
American Indian History
Government and Civics
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p>After the Civil War, the temperance movement swept the nation. Starting with Maine in 1851, states and localities around the country held referendums to let its citizens vote whether or not to ban alcohol. In 1886, Virginia adopted the “<a href="http://edu.lva.virginia.gov/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/doc/wet_and_dry">Local Option</a>,” which let each city or county vote to be “wet” (allowing alcohol) or “dry.” By the time this map was published in 1909, only nine cities and two counties remained “wet”. In 1914, Virginia held a referendum on state-wide prohibition. Campaigning was fierce on both sides. The Anti-Saloon League branch in Virginia was led by a fiery minister, Reverend James Cannon, whose stirring speeches at meetings and rallies throughout the state convinced the public that alcohol caused “pauperism and insanity and crime and shame and misery and broken hearts and ruined homes and shortened, wasted lives.”<br /><br />Support for the “wet local option” came from breweries, bars, and their devoted patrons. Looking to establish an organization that opposed state-wide prohibition on other grounds, a group of Richmond professional men formed the Virginia Association for Local Self-Government. Its leaders included a judge, a surgeon, a lawyer, and several prominent businessmen. Careful to disassociate themselves from the bar scene, the Association for Local Self-Government distributed propaganda to counter the flood of literature of the Anti-Saloon League, declaring that the desire for local, not state control, was their reason to oppose prohibition.<br /><br />The Virginia Association for Local Self-Government published this pamphlet in 1914, urging Confederate veterans and their sons to vote for home rule. Harkening back to the glory days of the Civil War, the brochure drew a direct parallel between the fight for the local option and the Confederate ideal of states’ rights. The organization stated that Confederate soldiers “fought for the principle of self-government fifty years ago and today these veterans should vote for the preservation of the right to each local community to regulate its own affairs in the manner best suited to the conditions, habits and customs of its people.” Deriding the Anti-Saloon League as an “Ohio institution” (Ohio being part of the North), the Virginia Association for Local Self-Government claimed that state-wide prohibition would “destroy a fundamental principle of government for which [the Confederates] fought.” Despite their often passionate appeal, the local option was defeated in the state-wide referendum held on September 22, 1914. Buoyed by a huge voter turnout (15 percent larger than the 1912 presidential election), state-wide prohibition won with almost 60 percent of the vote. Prohibition in Virginia went into effect on November 1, 1916. Just over three years later on January 16, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment mandated national prohibition.</p>
<p><em>Citations:</em></p>
<p><em>Home Rule and Local Self-Government, 1914, Box 3, Folder 9, Virginia Governor (1918-1922: Davis), Executive Papers, 1918-1922, Accession 21567a, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond.</em><br /><br /><em>Virginia Association for Local Self-Government Papers, Online Index, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.</em></p>
Standards
USII.4, USII.6, CE.6, CE.10, VUS.8, VUS.10, GOVT.7, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<p><strong>Preview Activity</strong></p>
<p>Look at It: Look at the image. What might be the purpose of this piece of propaganda art? Why might have it been created?</p>
<p><strong>Post Activities</strong></p>
<p>Analyze: The Virginia Association for Local Self Government compared the Local Option to the Civil War. Is this a valid argument? Do you think this idea convinced voters?</p>
<p>Another Perspective: The messaging and propaganda effort of The Virginia Association for Local Self Government did not work. Why do you think this was the case? How would you have approached the issue differently to get a better result?</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Home Rule and Local Self Government During Prohibition, 1914
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1914
Economics
Government and Civics
Reform Movements
-
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ebb1594d44beded8b8f3b9a069c37046
https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/files/original/affb75a90faf4717dd9240480c288dd5.pdf
c43a1adc1e3c0a8b04415e918f8400c8
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p>Marriage licenses such as this one began to appear after Racial Integrity Act was introduced in 1924. The application for marriage shows how an individual had to indicate that he or she was not "a habitual criminal, idiot, imbecile, hereditary epileptic or insane person” to be given the right to marry. In addition, an individual also had to indicate whether he or she was "white, colored, or mixed” as race interracial marriage was not allowed under the law.</p>
<p>The Racial Integrity Act was introduced in 1924 in the General Assembly as Senate Bill No. 219, then as House Bill No. 311. When the act was passed, it prohibited interracial marriage and defined a white person as someone "who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian." The act was passed to preserve “whiteness” against race-mixing and required that individuals fill out a certificate of racial composition. Originally, the act required that all individuals register their race, but many white Virginians did not want to do so. The act changed the requirement for individuals born before June 14, 1924, and the completion of certificates would be voluntary. In addition, the cost to register was placed on the individual, not the state. When the act was introduced, persons with traces of American Indian ancestry were still granted the right to marry white individuals -- this exception came about as some prominent white elites claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. During that time, a white person was defined as an individual who had less than one sixty-fourth part Indian and no African American heritage.</p>
<p>In 1924, the act was challenged when James Conner and Dorothy Johns applied to marry in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The clerk A.T Shield found Conner’s race to be white, but Johns’ race was defined as part white, part "colored." Under the Racial Integrity Act, the clerk denied the marriage application and Johns immediately filed a law suit. Johns argued that the 19th century records did not detail the fact that her colored ancestry was indeed part Indian, but the clerk still refused to issue a marriage license. In 1926, the act was revised to remove the "Pocahontas exemption” as a consequence from court cases presented by individuals such as Dorothy Johns. When the act was revised, it made cases such as such as Johns' impossible to win and redefined whiteness in Virginia as someone "whose blood is entirely white, having no known, demonstrable or ascertainable admixture of the blood of another race.” The Racial Integrity Act remained law until 1967 when the U.S Supreme Court found it unconstitutional in the <a href="http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Loving_v_Virginia_1967">Loving v. Virginia</a> case.</p>
<p><em>Citations: “Application for Marriage License,” Library of Virginia, accessed September 14, 2015, https://lva.omeka.net/items/show/85. Rockbridge County (Va.) Clerk's Correspondence, 1912-1943. Local Government Records Collection, Rockbridge County Court Records. The Library of Virginia. 12-1245-002. Wolfe, B. Racial Integrity Laws (1924–1930). (2015, August 24). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Racial_Integrity_Laws_of_the_1920s.</em></p>
Standards
Social Studies: USII.1, USII.4, USII.6, VUS.1, VUS.8, GOVT.1, GOVT.9
Suggested Questions
<p><strong>Preview Activity</strong></p>
<p>Scan it: Scan the document. What words or phrases stand out to you? Why might such a document be considered controversial?</p>
<p><strong>Post Activities</strong></p>
<p>Food for Thought: The concept of racial purity and interracial marriage was at issue for a long time in Virginia. Why do you think it took so long to remove the Racial Integrity Act? How might have the act impacted communities and families across the state?</p>
<p>Current Connections: What similarities and/or differences do you see between the struggle for interracial marriage and the fight for LGBTQIA+ marriage equality?</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Application for Marriage License Under the Racial Integrity Act, 1924
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
African American History
Government and Civics
-
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b9f10351b3f659d6ee08b60ff80eeab2
https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/files/original/432809897c1259de8e116c641a779efd.pdf
9c54a616d38eb8e5b1bbef1be174b663
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p><a href="https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Walker_Maggie_Lena" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Maggie Lena Walker</strong></a> was an African American woman, a banker, a business leader, and a civic leader. In 1903, she was the first woman to establish a bank in the United States, the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond. She was also the first African American woman to become the president of a bank in the United States. Maggie Walker was born in 1864 in Richmond, Virginia.</p>
<p>Maggie’s mother, Elizabeth Draper, was a former enslaved person who worked as an assistant cook for Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy white woman who freed some of her family's enslaved laborers and who ran a Union spy network around Richmond during the Civil War. While at the Van Lew estate, Draper met an Irish American abolitionist writer named Eccles Cuthbert, who was Maggie’s biological father. There is no record suggesting that Cuthbert and Draper ever married. Draper later married William Mitchell, a butler at the Van Lew home. Together they had a son in 1870, Maggie’s half-brother Johnnie Mitchell. In February 1876, William Mitchell’s body was found drowned in the James River under suspicious circumstances. After his death, the family fell into poverty and Draper started a laundry business to support her family. In 1904, Maggie described how she felt about working in her mother’s business and witnessing the differences between socio-economic classes. She said “I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but with a laundry basket practically on my head.”</p>
<p>Maggie went to school in Richmond at the Lancasterian School, a newly created public school for African American children in Richmond. She later graduated from the "Richmond Colored Normal School" in 1883 after she completed training to become a teacher. Following graduation she taught school for three years until she married Armstead Walker Jr., in 1886. Due to a school policy, as was standard for the time, Maggie retired from teaching once she was married.</p>
<p>In 1881, Walker joined the Independent Order of Saint Luke, a fraternal association. She rose through the ranks of the organization and became Right Worthy Grand Secretary in 1899. When she became its leader, the order was debt-ridden and on the verge of bankruptcy, but Walker transformed it to a well-resourced entity, and within five years the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank opened for business. She used her position to encourage young Black students to continue their education and serve the community.</p>
<p>During the Great Depression, Walker's bank was survived the national wave of bank failures and merged with two other banks to become Consolidated Bank and Trust. In the later years of her life, Walker faced health issues that confined her to a wheelchair. Walker remained president of her bank until December 15, 1934, when she died from diabetic gangrene. Today Maggie Walker's former home at 110 ½ East Leigh Street is a National Historic Landmark (designated in 1979) and is maintained by the National Park Service. In her honor, a statue and plaza were also placed on Richmond's Broad Street. </p>
<p><em>Citation: Maggie Walker Photographic Potrait, Visual Studies Collection, Library of Virginia.</em></p>
Standards
VS.1, VS.9, USII.1, USII.4, VUS.1, VUS.8
Suggested Questions
<p><strong>Preview Activities</strong></p>
<p>Artistic Exploration: Examine the photograph of Maggie Lena Walker as well as the legend at the bottom of the image. From your perspective, what can you conclude about Walker from her posture, dress, and facial expression? What also does the legend at the bottom of her photograph imply?</p>
<p>Think About it: The year of the photograph was 1898, list 5 things you know about that period in American History. These items may reflect events prior to or after 1898. Think about the role of women and how the African American community in a city like Richmond, might be different from today.</p>
<p><strong>Post Activities </strong></p>
<p>Analyze: Maggie Walker achieved a level of success that was considered to be unusual for an African- American woman of her period. What events stand out to you as being most relevant to who she would become? Why? Write a paragraph explaining your thought process.</p>
<p>Be the Journalist: Imagine you could meet Maggie Walker now and interview her. What would you ask her? Why</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Maggie Lena Walker, Photograph Portrait, c. 1930
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930
African American History
Economics
Women's History
-
https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/files/original/d2329e0d712918527c23744f23096637.jpg
e5434e9d58963084a4f394c7f56ee1ba
https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/dbva/files/original/3d6bda7deb6c2f3cc077af4573e31627.pdf
1807d07997b3029dc5c5469d835b5888
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Emergence of Modern America
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1890-1930
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The idea of a “Modern United States” begins with the advent of the Progressive era. The Progressive movement focused on reforms viewed as necessary after drastic increases in industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, as well as corruption in the business and political realms. Temperance reached its peak with the 18th Amendment and the decade of Prohibition, while woman suffrage became guaranteed nationally with the 19th Amendment. Other movements that gained traction on a new scale during this era were the labor movement, including the rise of unions, and the Harlem Renaissance. Shifting roles for African Americans migrating to northern cities and unprecendented immigration to America's shores heightened racial and ethnic tensions and led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>With all of the changes on the home front of America, this era also saw the emergence of the United States as a major world power. The Spanish-American War pitted the U.S. against a European power other than Great Britain for the first time. Not long after, the United States found itself embroiled in World War I, despite strong isolationist tendencies. Along with a large death toll, World War I led to the development of the failed League of Nations, ultimately pushing the United States even further into an isolationist standing that would last for decades. The immediate postwar period of the Prohibition-era “Roaring 20s” saw a domination in politics and economics by big business and its supporters, which would all come crashing down in less than a decade.</p>
<p>Learn more in the <a title="This external link will open in a new window." href="http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/us-history-content-standards/united-states-era-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National U.S. History Content Standards</a>.</p>
Lesson Plan
A resource that gives a detailed description of a course of instruction.
Context
<p>The Federal Reserve System, sponsored by Virginia State Senator Carter Glass, was signed into law on December 23, 1913 by <a href="http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/wilson_woodrow_1856-1924">President Woodrow Wilson</a>. In 1914, the city of Richmond was selected to be the home to one of 12 central bank locations and was to serve the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The first Richmond central branch president, George Seay, led the movement to bring the bank to the city. He cited many reasons, such as the city’s geographic location being in the middle of the designated region and as a leading regional banking district in Virginia. Today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond represents the Fifth Federal Reserve District which serves Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and most areas of West Virginia.<br /><br />The Federal Reserve System servers as the fiscal agent of the U.S Treasury. The Federal Reserve System is composed of both public and private elements in order to uphold the integrity of the organization, keep the bank free from political agendas, and ensures the Federal Reserve System is held accountable for its actions. The Federal Reserve System has three key responsibilities which include: conducting monetary policy, supervising and regulating financial institutions, and providing services to financial institutions. The Federal Reserve System oversees monetary policies which seeks to create market price stability in the economy and maximize employment opportunities which help sustain a growing economy. The Federal Reserve System also regulates other financial institutions by writing regulations which act as rules and guidelines. The regulations of the Federal Reserve System clearly defines acceptable behavior within the banking industry, manages regulations through oversight, and enforces any violations to the regulations. The Federal Reserve System provides services for other financial institutions through a variety of services including: payment services, check processing services, and electronic payment services.<br /><br />Since the opening of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in 1914, the bank’s headquarters has had three locations in downtown Richmond. The first bank was located near the federal courts and opened in 1914. In 1921, the bank was relocated to historic Capitol Square and operations continued there until 1978. The bank was moved to its current location on 701 East Byrd Street, overlooking the James River. Additional offices were opened, to support the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank’s operations, in Baltimore, Maryland in 1918 and Charlotte, North Carolina in 1927. The mission of the Federal Reserve System is to “serve the public by fostering the stability, integrity and efficiency of our nation's monetary, financial and payments systems."<br /> <br /><em>Citations</em>:<em> [The Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond, a beautiful example of modern bank architecture]. Virginia New York World’s Fair Commission, [1939] The Virginia Room Exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. Library of Virginia. Richmond, VA " "Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond."" Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. <https://www.richmondfed.org/>"</em></p>
Standards
CE.1, CE.13
Suggested Questions
<p><strong>Preview Activity</strong></p>
<p>Look at it: The building in the photograph is the Federal Reserve Building from 1921-1978. List 3 things you know about the Federal Reserve.</p>
<p><strong>Post Activities</strong></p>
<p>Analyze: The Federal Reserve set regulations for the banking and finance sectors. How might these regulations help the average consumer?</p>
<p>Think About It: List four economic indicators which are dependent on regulations or decisions made by the Federal Reserve.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richmond Federal Reserve Headquarters on Capitol Square, 1939.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1939
Economics
Government and Civics